The New Les Miserables

[Frankly Rich]

Cameron MacIntosh concedes that a 2006 revival of Les Miserables was ill-conceived, so I don't know what he was thinking with his 2014 revival. They've done away with the turntable, but also any heart that the show once had.

This new version is hard to distinguish from any slop that occasionally crosses a stage. I had forgotten how huge and uncomfortable the Imperial Theater is, but it didn't help me endure the screaming and shouting that passes for singing in this new, truly miserable show. The young actors seem to have only read the script and know little of the story. They rush and run across the stage, each out shouting the other, all of which is unnecessary because the heavy amplification will have your ears as uncomfortable as your butt. I admit that an occasional moment comes across that reminded me why I once enjoyed this show enough to see it three times, but I doubt that I will ever get this new tragedy out of my mind to enjoy it again.

 

At top ticket prices of $147, I was glad to get a half-price seat. Little did I know that I would only see half the show!

[foxy]

I thought briefly about seeing this new version but you've killed that desire. Thank you.

[Frankly Rich]

You are welcome, but I wish I had liked it more.. I just wanted to scream " Turn it down!" But you can't do that in the theater.

[foxy]

I'm thinking about bringing earplugs to musicals that are way over amplified. So sad that many performances rely on that. It used to be performers knew how to project their voices without this crutch but I guess we live in a loud time. More the pity.

[Tighty]

I just watched it last Saturday. Except for the nasal Eponine, I liked it a lot!

[jackhammer91406]

I am curious about this production. A new conceptualization came through Los Angeles 2 seasons ago claiming to be a revival that had run on Broadway as part of the 25 anniversary.. It used rear LED projection screens for part of the set design. the singing in general was clearer and more understandable than the original version I had seen. Is this production similar to the one you saw Frankly?

[Gar1eth]

Why did they get rid of the turntable? I thought it was very effective.

 

Gman

[Frankly Rich]

Jackhammer, perhaps they were trying it out, I don't know I only have my little IPad with me. It's easier doing research on something bigger. Getting rid of the turntable was to cut down of expenses and bulk on stage. It also gave them a new opportunity in staging the show without it.

Tightly, did you see the New York show at the Imperial? And nothing bothered you about the production? Are you otherwise hard of hearing?

[Tighty]

Jackhammer, perhaps they were trying it out, I don't know I only have my little IPad with me. It's easier doing research on something bigger. Getting rid of the turntable was to cut down of expenses and bulk on stage. It also gave them a new opportunity in staging the show without it.

Tightly, did you see the New York show at the Imperial? And nothing bothered you about the production? Are you otherwise hard of hearing?

 

Yeah I saw it at the Imperial. I was seated 2nd row from the stage. My hearing is fine. Maybe I was too busy watching the expression on the actors' face. Usually I'm seated all the way back at the balcony and can hardly see anything. At first I thought the sound was a bit loud but it's still nothing compared to rock concerts.

 

Jackhammer, they used projection for Javert's suicide scene and Valjean carrying Marius.

[Frankly Rich]

Tighty, I have been thinking all day that I should have added a smiley to my comment on your hearing. And now to learn that you were in the second row,I am amazed! I was in Row S, couldn't see much of any faces, but was blasted by the sound. Perhaps the speakers were placed in the back?

[N13]

I'm thinking about bringing earplugs to musicals that are way over amplified. So sad that many performances rely on that. It used to be performers knew how to project their voices without this crutch but I guess we live in a loud time. More the pity.

 

Lizard Minooli - oops, I'm sorry, Liza Minelli started the whole amplification thing when she did "The Rink." Mores the pity!!!

[MrMiniver]

Lizard Minooli - oops, I'm sorry, Liza Minelli started the whole amplification thing when she did "The Rink." Mores the pity!!!

 

There was amplification on Broadway since at least the early 1960s long before The Rink.

[N13]

There was amplification on Broadway since at least the early 1960s long before The Rink.

 

I stand corrected. "The Rink" was so over-amplified imho that it is the one that stuck in my mind. See the quote below for further amplification (couldn't resist) on the subject:

 

PLAYBILL ON THE RECORD: "Broadway Unplugged 2," Plus "Broadway Musicals of…"

By Steven Suskin

01 Apr 2007

Mr. Siegel informs us in his narration that body mics were first used on Broadway in 1964 in Hello, Dolly!, or possibly in 1961 in Carnival. Actually, it goes back further, to the 1957 musical, Jamaica. Lena Horne wasn't quite soaring during the tryout in Philadelphia, so they fired the conductor, brought in a new orchestrator for all of the star's numbers, and added a body mic so she could be heard over all those saxophones. (It worked, and how; Horne's performance turned into a cyclonic triumph, and body mics were here to stay.) Was this the first body mic on Broadway? Maybe, although I wouldn't be shocked if there was an earlier one from some forgotten musical.

[actor61]

I stand corrected. "The Rink" was so over-amplified imho that it is the one that stuck in my mind. See the quote below for further amplification (couldn't resist) on the subject:

 

PLAYBILL ON THE RECORD: "Broadway Unplugged 2," Plus "Broadway Musicals of…"

By Steven Suskin

01 Apr 2007

Mr. Siegel informs us in his narration that body mics were first used on Broadway in 1964 in Hello, Dolly!, or possibly in 1961 in Carnival. Actually, it goes back further, to the 1957 musical, Jamaica. Lena Horne wasn't quite soaring during the tryout in Philadelphia, so they fired the conductor, brought in a new orchestrator for all of the star's numbers, and added a body mic so she could be heard over all those saxophones. (It worked, and how; Horne's performance turned into a cyclonic triumph, and body mics were here to stay.) Was this the first body mic on Broadway? Maybe, although I wouldn't be shocked if there was an earlier one from some forgotten musical.

 

I had always heard that "Carnival" was the first body mic'd show, so I was fascinated by the Lena Horne story. A story I heard about "Carnival" was that Anna Maria Alberghetti's mic was left on one night by a sound engineer after she'd exited the stage and the audience heard her go to her dressing room, urinate with a huge sigh of relief, and then flush. It may be apocryphal but it's very funny.

 

Liza's infamy on Broadway resulted not from "The Rink" but from "The Act". I saw it when it was working out the kinks at the Music Center in L.A. before heading for NY and it was very obvious she was lip synching. She got roasted in the reviews for it. I guess the lip synching continued in NY and there was some bitterness about her winning the Tony for that performance. The show sucked. She was okay if you like the mannerisms and the phony sincerity but I'm not a fan. It was originally intended for Mary Tyler Moore, believe it or not, but she was apparently very gun shy about doing another B'way musical after the disastrous "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with Richard Chamberlain.

 

Oh lord, I've prattled on again. Sorry!

[MrMiniver]

I had always heard that "Carnival" was the first body mic'd show, so I was fascinated by the Lena Horne story. A story I heard about "Carnival" was that Anna Maria Alberghetti's mic was left on one night by a sound engineer after she'd exited the stage and the audience heard her go to her dressing room, urinate with a huge sigh of relief, and then flush. It may be apocryphal but it's very funny.

 

Liza's infamy on Broadway resulted not from "The Rink" but from "The Act". I saw it when it was working out the kinks at the Music Center in L.A. before heading for NY and it was very obvious she was lip synching. She got roasted in the reviews for it. I guess the lip synching continued in NY and there was some bitterness about her winning the Tony for that performance. The show sucked. She was okay if you like the mannerisms and the phony sincerity but I'm not a fan. It was originally intended for Mary Tyler Moore, believe it or not, but she was apparently very gun shy about doing another B'way musical after the disastrous "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with Richard Chamberlain.

 

Oh lord, I've prattled on again. Sorry!

 

There are people who claim that shows were amplified during the 40s and 50s but I've never seen any evidence proving such a thing. I heard the Lena Horne story and it's probably true although I've never been able to confirm it. It really go going in the 1960s but it was fairly discreet. It was during the 80s that they loud over done amplification started. It could be awful. If you weren't sitting in the first five rows dead center it was like hearing sound coming out of one speaker .... it can still be like that. I always sit in the first five rows dead center so I can at least hear the sound coming out of their mouths rather than speakers.

 

It does help some people. I remember seeing the execrable Darren Criss in How to Succeed in .... and I was sitting in the front row. His voice was incredibly small and you could barely hear him. Shows what they can do with today's modern equipment on Glee. Without a microphone he couldn't appear on a stage (and there's reason enough to do without mics .

[Gar1eth]

I heard Andrea McCardle talk once about Annie being the last un-miked show. I read the article a long time ago. But I think she was talking about how the producers/directors needed a child with a powerhouse type voice. Something that many current stars didnt have/need because of miking.

 

I don't mind the mikes. I prefer being able to hear the performers. I just wish they weren't as obvious as they are.

 

Gman

[skynyc]

I suspect this is why they actually have a Tony for Sound Design now...started in 2008. Sound designers now attend auditions, and once preliminary auditions are through, call-backs are often mic-ed, so that acoustic blends between actors can be checked. While it must be a growing field, there are a lot of recurring names in the nominees of these awards every year.

 

I have to wonder if singers are still training the same way...opera singers, certainly, but I cannot believe that the "instrument" that is being used today, is being trained practiced in the same way that it was in the days pre-microphone.

 

Similarly, I was talking with the mother of one of my goddaughters, who is in her High School Show Choir. We were commenting on the fact that this choir doesn't sound anything like the choirs on Glee. Of course, public school choirs aren't pre-recorded and aren't working 60 hours a week on two numbers.

 

(And they're not Auto-tuned.) LOL

[+ WilliamM]

I have to wonder if singers are still training the same way...opera singers, certainly, but I cannot believe that the "instrument" that is being used today, is being trained practiced in the same way that it was in the days pre-microphone.

 

 

Many of the bigest Broadway musical stars of the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s had little or no training in singing. Merman is the best example, but she could read music.

[bostonman]

I heard Andrea McCardle talk once about Annie being the last un-miked show. I read the article a long time ago. But I think she was talking about how the producers/directors needed a child with a powerhouse type voice. Something that many current stars didnt have/need because of miking.

 

I don't mind the mikes. I prefer being able to hear the performers. I just wish they weren't as obvious as they are.

 

Gman

 

McArdle.

 

And I think we should also make the distinction between area miking and body mikes - I'm sure even Annie had area miking, it may just be that the actors weren't wearing individual body mikes.

 

Funny trivia - 7 years after Annie, Sunday In The Park With George was going to try to go without body mikes, but Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin supposedly weren't happy with the resulting acoustic - not so much that they couldn't fill the space, but that they were so accustomed to hearing themselves electronically (i.e. hearing their own sound coming back at them) that the dead acoustics of the theatre were uncomfortable for them. So they wound up miking the actors.

 

Ironically, it's that concept of professionals having gotten used to mikes and the sound of an amplified theatre that seems curious - I know a local theatre that used to be just a community theatre, no body mikes - until the producer started inviting professional actors (often from NYC, or the show's tour, etc) as guest artists (around 1987 or so) - ironically the pros started demanding to be miked. You would think it would be the opposite, of course - that the pros would have the training and ability to fill this large but typical high school auditorium, and it would be the amateur performers who would need miking to level things out - but the pros preferred the amplified sound they had gotten used to in NYC and on the road. (And skynyc has a point - though classical singers are still trained for vocal size, not all musical theatre performers are anymore, unfortunately. Also, the ubiquitousness of miking affords many singers who wouldn't be able to fill a space acoustically to be compensated for - and it becomes a vicious circle.)

 

The other problem, of course, is audience expectation. Especially given that theatre is not the popular activity it once was, and audiences unaccustomed to acoustic sound are now expecting amplified music, etc. Granted, there are still plenty of people who value unmiked theatre, but I think the general expectation is that the sound in the house should be "like the CD" or like going to a movie, etc. People aren't used to the idea of "listening in" as much as they used to - so the result is that sound designs get louder and louder to bring the sound TO the audience, instead of the more participatory idea of the audience coming TO the sound. We've developed lazy ears.

 

Not for nothing, but I saw the touring production of American Idiot a few months ago (I had a former student in the cast - I had never seen the show, and was curious about it) - yes, it's a rock show (really, it's a glorified rock concert with a set and a lot of staging...I'm loathe to really call it a full-fledged musical), so it correctly invites that amplified sound, but MAN, was it loud...

[body2body]

I did my first musical while at university in 1970 ( no microphones). The music director during a rehearsal became very upset with the cast because we weren't projecting. He said "An audience is going to pay money to see this show, and if the people in the last row of the balcony cannot hear you, and understand every lyric, then you have cheated them of the money paid for the ticket".

I always find body mikes troubling, especially during dialog. Sometimes you get very odd results. I saw Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd. in L.A. Every time she began a song you could hear the background hiss of the sound system as the guy at the sound board cranked up the volume so the Star could be heard.

[bostonman]

I did my first musical while at university in 1970 ( no microphones). The music director during a rehearsal became very upset with the cast because we weren't projecting. He said "An audience is going to pay money to see this show, and if the people in the last row of the balcony cannot hear you, and understand every lyric, then you have cheated them of the money paid for the ticket".

 

To add to that - one of the problems with mikes is that it can make hearing very easy, but that energy of really "playing to the back row" etc can still be missing.

 

I remember seeing a touring performance of Ragtime, where it seemed to me that the guy playing Coalhouse succumbed to this problem all too well. I don't know him as a performer otherwise, so I can't tell if this is just how he was in general or if he was "phoning it in" that particular day, but though I could hear him just fine, he didn't seem to be engaged in the role at all. There wasn't any sort of physical reach to go with the sound. he just kinda stood there, without much visible expression, and sang.

 

So really, that musical director in your production wasn't really being as thorough as he could have been (I'm a musical director, lol, so I can get away with saying that.) It's not just about being heard/understood in the last row of the balcony, it's the commitment and reach of the performance in general that has to reach everyone in the theatre. It's not enough to sing loud - one has to land an entire performance in the audience. This doesn't mean overacting, with stock gesticulations and all that nonsense - but it does mean the body's behavior has to match the vocal size in a natural way. And even the most professional of actors can get too "internal" with a role - they have to remember to communicate it outward. Even, and especially, when they're miked.